Art museums do not usually think of their collections as capital or co

Question

Art museums do not usually think of their collections as capital or consider the interest income that would  be generated if a portion of the capital would have been  invested in another form.

(A) be generated if a portion of the capital would have been

(B) have been generated if a portion of the capital would have been

(C) be generated if a portion of the capital were

(D) be generated if a portion of the capital was

(E) be generated if a portion of the capital had been

singh181 · Accepted Answer

This question has inverted "if" in the last part of the statement.

with "if" statement "would" is awkward.
For example:

If I would go to the market, I will meet with my friend". 
So, "would" cannt come on the "if" part of the statement. "would" is correct if it comes on "then" part.

So, A and B are out for that reason. 
Also, you dont say "if I was rich", but u say "If I were rich" for hypothetical statements. So, D is out.
Also, if you have something like this "If I had been to the market, I would have bought the shoes." So, E is out for that reason.

metallicafan · Answer

+1 C

This is a typical question for non-native speakers who are learning English.
When we use the conditional for present situations that are not real (just assumptions). The construction is:
If (subject) (verb in simple past), (subject) WOULD (verb)
The only exception is the verb "to be". In that case, we ALWAYS should use WERE. It doesn't matter whether the subject is singular or it is "you".

For past situations, also not real:
If (subject) HAD (verb in past participle), (subject) WOULD HAVE (verb)...

Sometimes, being a non-native speaker is good for this type of exams.

I think I deserve kudos 8-)

x2suresh · Answer

agree with C.

Subjuctive mood required.

If I were President, I would have stopped the War.

If Capital were invested in another firm, interest incoulde would be generated.

kt00381n · Answer

I thought that portion of the capital is singular and thats why i picked D (portion of the capital  was ). Is it plural?

x2suresh · Answer

Capital is singluar, but for subjunctive mood we use "were" instead of "was"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjunctive

getmba · Answer

It's C. 
Mixes conditional and subjunctive. 
E would be right if the answer choice is  have been generated if a portion of the capital had been

varun2410 · Answer

Ans : C

would/could with if is wrong and for subjunctive mood we need were.

fanatico · Answer

Thanks

I was not able to decide bw C and D

if I were is correct...

If portion of the capital were/was?

what is the rule or using were/was in if clause?

rohu27 · Answer

the question here is about a hypothetical situation abt a situtaion which does not exist now.
so clearly were shud be used by rule. all the options can thus be eliminated other than C.

haihai89 · Answer

Type 1. Conditional type - real at present
 If subject+ verb - simple present, subject will/shall verb-infinitive 
 If I have money, I will build dreams (maybe it is true)

Type 2: Conditional type - unreal at present
 If subject+ verb - past tense and "were" for all subjects, subject would do something
 If I had money, I would build dreams (at this moment, I do not have money)

Type 3: Conditional type - unreal in the past
 If subject+ verb ( past perfect tense), subject would have + PII
 I had had money two years ago, I would have built dreams (in the past, I did not have money)

Hope that it is helpful.

Abhishek009 · Answer

The intent of the sentence is clearly to express a hypothetical situation

Art museums do not usually think of their collections as capital or consider the interest income that would be generated   if  a portion of the capital  were   invested in another form.
  
Hence straightaway (C)

rishabhmishra · Answer

how is were correct if the subject is a portion and their is no subjective verb.plz explain thank you

sayantanc2k · Answer

Probably you meant subjunctive, not subjective - in that case you are absolutely on the right track. "Were" is indeed a hypothetical subjunctive case. One of the standard structures of IF.. THEN... construction (used to depict unlikely future event) is:

IF hypothetical subjunctive, THEN conditional (e.g. would).

Option C follows the above structure.

IF hypothetical subjunctive, THEN conditional (e.g. would).

Option C follows the above structure.

rishabhmishra · Answer

i know its between c and D but i don't know why it is c .Because i think the subject in that clause is a portion which is singular then why it is were(c)

sayantanc2k · Answer

The hypothetical subjunctive uses the simple past form of the verb - so ideally the verb should be "was". However another rule of hypothetical subjunctive is that "was" becomes "were".

If I WERE the king, I would hang all the corrupt ministers.... correct. (NOT  I was )

KhulanE · Answer

Below explanation from englishclub.com may help you understand why C is a correct answer.

Past subjunctive or were-Subjunctive
Form of were-subjunctive

I were
you were
he, she, it were
we were
you were
they were
Note that the subjunctive does not change according to person (I, you, he etc).
Use of were-subjunctive
In the following examples, you can see that we sometimes use the were-subjunctive (instead of was) after:

if
as if
wish
suppose
Note that in these cases were is always correct, but was is possible in informal language:

Formal with were Informal with was
I would go if I were younger. I would go if I was younger.

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/subjunctive.htm

arya251294 · Answer

Whenever you want to express a wish we use "were"

Ex :
If I  were  the Prime Minister of India.....
If I  were  invisible...
I wish I  were  a superhero.

Hoozan · Answer

This is a hypothetical conditional sentence and hence we use "if a portion were..." furthermore, this is the reason why we have "consider income that would..."

So keeping this in mind shouldn't the first half of the sentence use "would not usually think" and not simple present "do not usually think"?

Why is one part of the sentence using simple past and the other using "would"

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  Hoozan ,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

Here, the simple present tense verb phrase "do not usually think" is used because the act of art museums not thinking of their collections as capital is a habitual action, and habitual actions are best conveyed through the simple present tense. Further, unlike the acts of interest income being generated and capital being invested, the art museums not thinking in a particular way is NOT a hypothetical action.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Art museums do not usually think of their collections as capital or co

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Art museums do not usually think of their collections as capital or co

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards